Address by the Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Mr Buti Manamela, on the occasion of the hand-over ceremony of the Mobile Sasol Laboratory at Mpumalanga University
Programme Director, Prof Tarombera Mwabvu;
Prof Thoko Mayekiso, Vice-Chancellor University of Mpumalanga;
Ms Noxolo Kahlana, Head of the Sasol Foundation
Government officials;
Private sector representatives;
Distinguished guests;
Ladies and gentlemen:
It is an honour and privilege to be speaking to you on such an important occasion.
Let me start by commending Mpumalanga University and the Sasol Foundation for this visionary collaboration and of course, also acknowledge the contribution of the other key stakeholders such as Osizweni Science Centre and Buhle Farmer’s Academy.
Today’s launch event is significant in several respects, and I wish to reflect on a few issues to illustrate the point. The first is by looking at the contribution of science to human development over time.
A casual glance at human history teaches us that, without the advances in science over the ages, human life would have been fundamentally different and in some respects, very backward. If we just take the example of the advances in medical science, we can immediately see how these have altered the quality of human life.
In the last century, we have seen how some of the greatest medical inventions such as the antibiotic, electrolytes, the pap smear, vaccine therapy, blood storage, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), HIV therapy and the human genome project, have significantly improved our understanding of the human body and the possibilities for science.
The second point is that, while these and other scientific inventions I have mentioned are definitely worth celebrating, they however also compel us to ask ourselves other pertinent questions.
One such question is: to what extent have we as scientists, policy makers and industry partners made these and other scientific inventions accessible to those sections of our society, who for one reason or the other, may not even know of the existence of these groundbreaking scientific inventions?
This nudges us to have clear ideas about how we will ensure that the community in which this event is being held doesn’t just know about the existence of this mobile laboratory, but that we also have clear ideas on how this community and in particular its young people, will benefit from this laboratory.
This brings me to the third point I wish to highlight and that is the contribution that we as the Department of Science and Innovation are making to popularising science, technology and innovation in our communities.
To coordinate our efforts in this respect, in 2015 we developed a Science Engage Strategy. Our Strategy is informed by the values that must underpin a democratic and post-apartheid society, and in particular the imperative of empowering our citizens to engage with processes and issues that affect them.
Towards this end, the overarching purpose of our Science Engagement Strategy, is-
- To popularise science, engineering, technology and innovation as attractive, relevant and accessible in order to enhance scientific literacy and awaken interest in relevant careers;
- To develop a critical public that actively engages and participates in the national discourse of science and technology to the benefit of society;
- To promote science communication that will enhance science engagement in South Africa; and
- To profile South African science and science achievements domestically and internationally, demonstrating their contribution to national development and global science, thereby enhancing their public standing.
In this regard, our efforts are aimed at ensuring that as many of our people as possible and in the rural areas and townships, understand and embrace the value and benefits of science, technology, and innovation.
Equally important, is our emphasis as government on the need to build strategic partnerships across society in response to societal problems. Therefore, as part of implementing our Science Engagement Strategy, our approach to partnerships is mainly informed by the Triple-Helix model.
This approach seeks to bring together higher education institutions, government, and industry with the view to jointly tackle the challenges facing the learning and teaching of science, in particular Physical Science, which as you know is one of the gateway subjects alongside Mathematics.
It is for this reason that I wish to commend Sasol’s consistency in supporting initiatives that are aimed at bringing the wonders of science closer to our communities. In fact, the mobile laboratory project is a product of a partnership between our Department and the Sasol Foundation, which started way back in 2014.
Our partnership with the Sasol Foundation is primarily aimed at addressing the lack adequate of laboratories in our public schools. In line with this partnership, Sasol contributed mobile laboratories across our country.
One of those is in the Cofimvaba district. There is currently a process to get a replacement mobile laboratory for the Albertina Sisulu Science Centre, which unfortunately had to be written off in an accident.
Sasol also developed the Technical Mathematics Learner book as a contribution to the introduction of Technical Mathematics to schools by the Department of Basic Education.
As a Department, we also have a long-standing relationship with the Secunda-based Sasol’s Osizweni Science Centre. For years, this Science Centre has been our partner in the implementation our science engagement programme and supporting STEM education in schools.
The last point I wish to highlight is that of the teaching of STEM education in our country. As you know, conducting science experiments is an integral part of delivering the science curriculum in schools. However, it is not every school that has laboratories and associated equipment where experiments can be conducted.
Studies conducted in our country have found that the lack of skills among teachers and motivation to conduct experiments are some of the factors that exacerbate the problems associated with STEM education in our country.
We therefore have no doubt that the mobile laboratory that is being unveiled here today will go a long way in improving the teaching and learning of STEM subjects for schools in this area. We look forward to a significant improvement in the pass rate for STEM subjects in this area.
In conclusion, it is important that we get the university community and community outside the university to embrace this laboratory as their own and ensure that it doesn’t suffer any form of damage. This is particularly important in view of one of the disturbing features of our higher education institutions, which is the tendency to damage or burn buildings during student protests.
This mobile laboratory is a vital resource for the creation of a better future for the young people of Mpumalanga and our country and therefore, all of us must ensure its continued functionality.
We commend the establishment of yet another mobile laboratory and wish to urge that we continue to work together to ensure that as many young people as possible, in some of our country’s most remote places, get to experience the wonders of science, through the facility of mobile laboratories.
